Railway signaling apparatus.



W. P. NEUBERT W. H. MOLELLAND. 3R.

RAILWAY SIGNALNG APPARATUS'.

APPLIGATOH FILED DE@4 30, 1909.

MEN

W. P. NEUBET & W. H. MGGLELLAND, JR.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLIATIN FILED DEO. 30, 1909-.

Paiente May 16, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M EL S S LL MN Tl.. W..

3. NEUBERT @L W. H. MGCLELLAND, JR.

RAILWAY SIGNALNG APPARATUS.

APPLGATION FILED 1330.30, 1909.

Patented May 16, 1911 Y 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY .non 15 1 a time' eleiisejj'niecliani j `entirely automata `fiA -lfYe'j'willfdes-i'ilie f 'f jbodying "-oi'ir' inreiition'gff andithenJ point out the nvelfeaturs'fin-'claiins" 351' Referringtol thefacciiipanying dra` ings. Figureflisn aside'eleiitiom'pai-tly,inset-tion,

secti 50 Jshown in Figs. l and 2. J.-

- fl-iiimmnncr NEUBERT,- o sWssvALE. -AND WILLIAM H. MOGLI-mmm), an., orWIL-fw- KINs'n GQIfENNsiLvANIA, AssIGNoRsTofTHE UNION SWITCH AND SIGNALCoM-,fl

' Be it known'thatwef- VALTER P. ^Nnt' iiar and WILILIHI-fH..l\IoCi:r:LLAND,` Jr., citizens of the; United States,A residing, irespectively,

,5' in the' boroughs' otwiss'valeand Wilkinsburg, county'of Allegheny,State of Pennsyl- Vania, vlia'vevinveiited certain new and usefulImprovements`in-s=RaiIway Signaling Ap'- paratus of which 1the'.following is a speciti- 10- cation Our invention A'I'felates to4iii-)p'aratus for the y f control of railway-signaljsfand moreparticularly'A- to time? release I mechanisms: egobject of v`ourinvention `1s i to provide' view of a portionfftliefniechaiiisui, onthe" and" front 'elevations` respectirely,V partly oned, o f nmodification' o f the.ap'i'iaiatusy t specmcaiinpfLettersPatent. jitel'ltcd ,Application aied'necemberso,f1so9. serial No. $35,613.`r

which; shall be supported in 'the plate 8, A plan riew of: l 'Athisbracket. is shown in Fig.. l.' -This shaft; 11 is rigidly secured tothe'spring,r easel-1.15

.the other end of this shaftbeing;.supported-";I l"in (he base'plate. T;

orni'of aiiiniratusrniftime the device is used.

14; Another contact. a'rni iaiiisniv on the' .l tarmA 21 matching withla.'correspondin'gly y i Aconical recess in arm 22 facilitates..this-105 va lu" .witli shoulder 31 projectin'gfroin thefsliaft p ANyoFsWIssVALI: v IinNNsYLVarna, oRPoRATIoN or PENNSYLVANIA-3= l lupon'whiclithe various parts are mounted. 55 A' clockwork mechanism 23 is mountedbe# tween the hase-plate T and arplate S, th latter being: mounted onspacing studsl, in

.a manner similar to tlieordinary clock movenieiit. A niaiii-sprin .qr50. for actuating the 60 'clock-Work mechanism is inclosed'in a springcage 14, the inner end of the spring being secured to a shat't 12, andtli'e outer end to the inside surface ofthe cage 14.'. This clock-4 workcomprises a train ot' gears'drivingf an 65 escapeinent pawl l5tohwliicli -is'securcd a.. damper or fan 16 for the purpose ofincreasing'and regulating the time element of 11e-1VV lease.

- Avbracket 10.? secured to t-lielhase iilatef'i'v5 -by bolts 25, actsas a'beaiiiig for one end-of a shaft11, the other end of the shaft.being The inner end of the .shaft 11 also'acts as ai 'I bearing for oneend .of the spring shaft 12,

A crank 2o. securei'l to* the shaft, 12,'serves to wind up the Aiiiain-80 spriiig'whcn the apparatus is 'originally Setil up, after which tlnscrank is heldgfrom i'otat,`

ing by being secured to the hase? plate T bymeans ot'ascrew 2T.Nmtiirther Winding. of the. fi'iiaiii-spriiigr is necessary. other thanv85 that which a'iitoniaticifillyY takes place each. The sliaft11 is not?joiii'nziled directly in the `bracket 10.. but tiirii's freely vithin asleeve or auxiliary shaft 20. which itself turns freely iii t lic '"90bracket 10. Secured to thi` outer end of this sleeve 20 is a Vkiioh 1? bv means of which thoj. sleeve may he rotated. vAA contact arni 'zllrissecured' to the shaft 1'1, and. is the onlyiiart 4 1..., rec-ily withthe. exception ot the spijiirLr-cage. l

l tits loosely o verr: the ai'ni 21, and can he secured thereto harms-.21 and 22'nia)7 he adjusted to any de y 100i.A

sircd angle relatively to cach other, and the. two may then be rigidlyclanipedto'gfcthei b vineans of the nut 32.. A conical surface onclamping Projecting from tlievslee'iel20. is

28, the" face A ofwhich may engage 2Q are rotated .iii a clockj wisedirection tlieycarry with 'them vthe arms E o1 contact springs yon eachside, although limited byalug on ltli e .fslce ve ing a stop on 45stop40. ASprings 37 and 38 will tlieiibe by means-of thejknob',the'clockwork mechaf nism beyond the shaft A19iis detached from thespring cage vby a 'tated counter-clockwise. so the gagement..When,vhowever, the main spring 21 ,and--22,"and, the shaft'llA to which.thee' arms are secured..- 7 y I Secured near the outer end of contactarm 22 is a pointer 3 3 which moves over a l graduated dial34s-W.4 i

Mounted 'upon the bracket 10, 4'and suit# ably insulated therefrom arecontact springs 35, 313. 3T and 3S". tofwhicli electrical circuits maybe vconnected 'by'.iiicaiis ot' .terminal posts 3 9'. These contactsprings are ai'- ranged in' pairs, the pair and 3G heilig closed-whenpressed together by contact arm 2l, and the .pair 37 and 38 beingsimilarly closed when pressed together by contact' arm 22. ln thedrawings we have shown two sets the apparatusniay be designed toacconiino date any desired numberot springs, depending upon thenumher ofcircuits to be conti'oll'ed.v 'v'llie :pressure of the contact arms uponthese .springs'isliiiiited :by stops, the movement of'tlie arms inoii'edirectioii being 2t) 'engagaiidiii the 22;engaging aA the bracket10,` other. direction byv the arm lug 40 on the-braeketfl l Theeiitir'iiiecliani fn. is protec.te`d froni improperjoperati'oi-aiitlljfroin' dirt \byv a glass cover' JjY which may..v be locked 'iiiplace by means offii pad-lockthrough a staple'hl The operation,ofcapp'aratus is as .t'olows:-Assuiniiigthe. mechanism to liefasvseinbledandthe"maiirspring to have been originally wound byliiieaiisofthe crank 2li, thenormal" vv'sitioiifwotf the parts will be asr shownin "Fig,-"2, 'springs 3 5 and 36 being closed and springsBT and`38o ien.When cloekwise direction .by A'the 4operator until eontactfarin 22engaging the closed."A 'Upon releasing Vthe knob,l the clock- )vorkmechanism' will' operate to return the contact arms yto their normalposition shown in Fig; 2, the"1ength of rtime required frthe return deending upon' the a-ngl of adjustment getween contact arms" 21' and 22.As shownl inthe acom` nying'figures, thistime 'is 2 minutes. he timewhich has elapsed since the{arnisfleft their wound-up position may :ber'ea any instant during,r the Arelease; bythe .p n of the pointer on thedial. Duringlt e 'process of winding wlfl? 'and\ ratchetV wheel 18. Thatis, whi e the spring cage 14 is being rotated -by hand in a clockwisedirection, the shaft 19 and ratchet 18 are roawl slips over the teethofthe ratchet without en- `lield in thcwouiid-up posi -'jiist describedmay be termed a normally uiiwouiid i type; that is, when not in actualusetlie iiiaiiispring is noi-mall)y unwouiid as -far as an)- winding onthe part ol the operator is concerned, andv llie contactl arms restnormally iii contact willi the stop 30, springs 35 and Bti being closed.hint-lier type of the release apparatus is sometimes desirable, in whichthe maiiispring is nor.` mally wound up to its fullest extent., springsiii-*and 3S being closed by the contact arms resting noriiially'againstthe stop lt) until released by a slight movement oii the part'. of theoperator. ',l`o accomplish this purpose we use a naalilication ot' ourinvention, shown iii Figs. T and S. The parts'of the apparatus areprecisely the same as ih the type liereinbefore described. with theaddition of a lock shaft 1l and' a spring 16. This shaft carries t'onrlugs 'l). 43, 4t and which engage with other parts of the inechanisni asfollows: When the knob is turned in a clock-wise direction by the op`crater to wind the spring, .as liereinhefore described, a shoulder -t oncontact aiiii 22,

Yis engaged by the lug lt carried on parts are thereby.

shaft. 4l, and the rotatingy tion as shown in Fig. S. The contactai'iiis'iiiay be released, however, wheiila reverse rotation is4desired, by turning the knob ll backward, wlieref upon the l'acc l olthe lug 28 carried by" the sleeve :20 presses downward on thc lock shaftlug if), rotating the lock shalt 41 through a small are, thus permittingtheslioiilder l? to pass' by the lug 44, and the lcontact a'ims to begintheir backward movenient under the action ot.' the main spring.' 'lhelock shaft is held by a spring 46 in sucli a position as to be ready toengage the contact arms when they are again rotated by means of the knob13, and it is prevented from being rotated too far under the. action ofthe spring t6 by a shoulder 52 on the bracket l0 which engages with liig43 on the lock shaft. This normally wound type-of our time releaseapparatus may be .used at any time, as a .iioriiially unwoiiiid g type,the only difference in operationbeiiig that immediately after windingthe spring by'av clock-wise rotation of the knob, the operator must givethe knob a slight backward rotation, whereupon the -contact arms will beat once released and driven backward by the niain-spring iiiy the usualinanner.- Furthermore the apparatiis `may be lreadily changed from thenormally wound type to the normally unwound, or rice versa, bythcsiniple insertion or removal of the lock shaft 41 and its spring' itThe time-release apparatus embodying ananas our invention may beoperated in two ways: (a.) by hand, as hereinhefore described; and (7;)by mechanical attachment to a lever of a hand operated or power operatedinterlocking i'i'iachine. ll'hen hand operatml. the.

retaining lock shaft is used itl the device is to be normally wound up,and not used iiI normally unwound. The arrangement ot' circuits willdetermine in each case which form is to be used. lWhen operated byattachment to an interlocking machine, the retaining lock-shaft is, o'tcourse, never used. The apparatusmay be changed on the ground from handoperated to mechanically operated, or vice versa, by intel-changing theknob with a sui-table lever attachment.

It will be noted that the slow-releasing feature of the apparatus of ourinvention is entirely automatic'in its action, the time required for acomplete movement from the wound-up position to the run-down positiondepending` only upon the angle of adjustment between the contact arms.Under no circumstances is the operator able by turn'- ing the knobbackward, to varythe time required to effecta release. y

Having described our invention, whatwe claim is:

l. A circuit controlling device comprisingv two oppositely7 arrangedsets of contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively with thetwo sets of contacts, means for rotating said arms in one direction ata` constant angular velocity from engagement with one set of contacts toengagement with the other set of contacts, and means for varying theangle between the two arms and thereby varying the period oftimeconsumed in the said rotation;

2. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged setsof contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively vwith the twosets of contacts, means for rotating the arms in one direction fromengagement with oneh setof contacts to engagement with the other -set ofcontacts, means for vriying the angle between the two arms and forthereby varying the period of time consumed in the said rotation, aspeed regulating device for controlling the speedv of said rotation, andmeans for ren.- dering the speed-regulating device inoperative during arotation of the arms in the opposite direction.

3. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged setsof contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively with the twosets of contacts, means for'rotating said arms in one direction fromengagement with one set of contacts toengagement with the other set ot'contacts, and a motor device, independent of the said means, forrotating the arms at a constant angular velocity in the other direction.

4. Acircuit controlling device comprising sinned in the said rotation.

two oppositelyV arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted 'torengagement. respectively with the two sets ot contacts, means forrotating said arms in one direction .trom engagement with one set. ot'contacts to engagen'ient with the other set ot' contacts, a motordevice,independent of the said means,

for rotating the arms in the opposite direction, a slwed-regulatingdevice for controlling the speed of the said motor device, and means Jorrendering the said speed regulating device inoperative during a rotationot `the arms in the first-mentioned direction.

5. A circuitcontrolling device comprising two oppositely arranged setsof contacts, two armsadapted for engagementv respectively with the twosets ot' contacts, means -for rotating said arms in one direction fromengagement with one set of contacts to engagement with the other set otcontacts, a

motor device independent oi' said means, for rotating the arms at aconstant angular velocity in theopposite direction, and means forvarying the angle between the said arms and thereby varying the periodof time consumed in the rotation by the motor device.

6. A circuitcontrolling device comprising two oppositely arranged setsof contacts, two arms adapted Jfor engagement respectively with the twosets of contacts, a motor device i'or rotating the arms at a constant langular velocity in one direction from engagement with one set ot'contacts to engagement with the other set or contacts, a

pointer rotating with the said arms to indicate the progress of timeduring the Vsaid rotation, and means for varying the angle therebyrotating the arms from operative engagement with one setot contacttingers to operative engagement with the opposite set of contactfingersand means for varying the angle between the two arms and for therebyvarying the period ot time consumed in the said rotation.

8. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged setsof contacts, a

shaft carrying two arms adapted for engagement respectively with -thetwo sets of` contacts, means for rotatihg said shaft in one direction ata constant angular velocity and thereby rotating thearms from engagementwith one set otcontacts to enea gement with the opposite set ofcontacts, and means for varying the anglevbetween the two arms andthereby varying the period ot' time con- D. A, eil-Cuit controllingdevice comprising two sets of electric contacts, eaoh set Com-- prising:a stationary member and a movable member adapted for engagementtherewith,

a shalt cari-ying the movable members, a motor devine 'for rotating saidshaft in one (lil-eolien at a constant angular velocity and the1eh \vrotating the movable members from engagement with one stationary memberto engagement with the other stationary meinhei'. and means for varyingthe angle between the two movable members and `thereby ai'ying theperiod of time consumed in Said rotation.

In testimony whereof7 We have signed our names to this speeieation, inthe pzesenee of two subscribed Witnesses Vfl/HITLER l?. i NEUBERT.WILLIAM H. MCCLELLAND, llfitnesses F.. L. VVALTON, T. G-Eo. WILLsoN.

